Child Development Center

Manchester Community College operates a nationally accredited Child Development Center/Lab School located in the Student Services Center, room L-140. Our dual goals include excellence in education for young children and structured learning opportunities for Manchester Community College students. The program is staffed by professional teachers and enhanced by student teachers enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program. The center is open during the academic year, Monday through Thursday, 8 AM to 4 PM and Fridays, 8 AM to 12 noon.

Located on a 160-acre campus, the grounds and facilities provide our children with an enriched experience. We participate in the wide variety of activities and events offered by this community. Our program is committed to providing high quality and innovative early educational experiences for young children.

We work toward establishing significant and meaningful relationships with children and their families. We value the uniqueness of each family and child and provide a program to meet individual needs. The center has an open-door policy. Parents may visit our classroom at anytime. They are welcome to volunteer, observe, read a story or simply join us for lunch. We encourage families to share information with us, and we value their input.

Our staff is professionally trained and committed to helping children and adults achieve their full potential through the development of trusting and respectful relationships. The Child Development Center has working relationships with a variety of professional consultants across various disciplines. These consultants offer their professional expertise that help shape our program.

Teamwork is essential to our success. A strong teaching team, working closely with families and professionals within the context of our rich college community allows us to accomplish our many goals.

The Goals of Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed to encourage children to become creative thinkers and active learners. Children learn best when they feel safe and valued. We provide a stimulating and interesting environment that challenges children. The program is a combination of child-initiated and teacher-directed activities. Children participate in both large and small groups, and are given ample time for individual exploration. A typical day provides for alternating periods of active and quiet play, both indoors and outside. We encourage children to become independent, self-confident, inquisitive learners.

The Child Development Center uses the Connecticut Framework for Preschool Curricular Goals and Benchmarks as a guide for planning curriculum. The State benchmarks require careful and consistent observations of each child. The staff uses these observations to develop curriculum based upon children’s individual interests and abilities. The CDC staff employs a multitude of techniques and approaches to accomplish the curriculum goals.

Our goal is to meet the needs of the whole child. Our curriculum addresses all areas of development:

Social: to help children feel comfortable in school, trust their new environment, interact with other children, play cooperatively, feel they are part of a group, and to develop conflict resolution skills.

Emotional: to help children identify and manage their feelings, experience pride and self-confidence, develop independence and self-control, and demonstrate empathy and caring for others.

Cognitive: to help children develop the ability to think, reason and question; to formulate and understand concepts; to use a variety of tools and objects to observe and experiment; and to develop both expressive and receptive language skills.

Physical: to help children increase their large and small muscle skills and to develop control, balance, strength and coordination.

Creative: to develop an appreciation of the arts, (including fine arts, dance and music), and to use a variety of art forms for creative expression.

Enrollment Procedures

All children who are three and four years old are eligible for enrollment. Children who are 2.9 years old and are turning 3 by December 31 are also eligible. All children must be toilet-trained. Priority for enrollment is given to the children of students and faculty. Community families are also welcome to attend.

Our program has an open admissions policy to serve all children including children with special educational, health needs and disabilities. We encourage a positive mix of children from diverse backgrounds, which includes social, economic, age, sex and behavioral characteristics.

Enrollment applications and additional information is available by calling the Director of the Child Development Center at 860-512-3272. Applications for the Fall semester are accepted during the months of May and August. Applications for the Spring semester are accepted during November and December. Additional enrollment opportunities may be available throughout the semesters.

The enrollment packet includes a registration form, emergency information form and a health form. For your child to attend, the health form must be completed by the child’s physician and returned to the center. The State of Connecticut Department of Health requires a yearly physical examination for all children attending childcare. Enrollment is complete when all forms are filled out and returned, accompanied with a $25 non-refundable registration fee.